Of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones
by Senney
Summary: Hatake Kakashi ran from Konoha at the tender age of six. He had no family and no friends to tie him to the villiage. He came to Iwa, and was accepted as a ninja.. At 12 his life changed, Iwa put Konoha to war, and he was brought back to where he was born…
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Of Sticks and Stones, and Broken Bones

**Author**: Senney

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto; the characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The stuff you don't recognize is probably mine.

**Note**: Iwa means 'rock;' so Iwa is the hidden ninja village of Rock.

Summary: Hatake Kakashi ran from Konoha at the tender age of six. He had no family and no friends to tie him to the village. He came to Iwa, and was accepted as a ninja... At 12 his life changed, Iwa put Konoha to war, and he was brought back to where he was born…

AU fic, alt. Timeline

Chapter One

The Return

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A brief flash of white in the night, the silence thick, a cold blade sliced the air.

The man didn't even have a chance to scream.

Hatake Kakashi, Iwa-nin, strikes again. He sheathed his sword and obliterated his target's body. His job was complete, and he could return to his village to receive another mission.

That was all that he was. A tool; he couldn't say for sure if he liked it or not, but he didn't have much experience with feeling.

Other than the pain he felt so long ago, when he left Konoha.

And the pain he felt when Kotoro died so he could live…

And again when Ariake had died when he couldn't protect her…

Damn… it was too fresh to think about. He missed her so much…

He turned and began running the ten miles back to Iwa. The Tsuchikage would want him back as soon as possible. People were talking about the start second ninja war, and Iwa would need everyone she could get. All of the ANBU would need to be there, including him.

No one was in the forest to see him that night, though he was easy to recognize. He had a shock of white hair that shot up at an odd angle. He wore a black mask underneath his white and green wolf mask. His Hitae-ate was slanted over his left eye. He looked like a black and white photo. Crisp and clear, a brief flash of white in the night.

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"Yondaime Tsuchikage-sama," Kakashi bowed.

"Wolf, I trust that you were successful?" the Tsuchikage motioned for him to stand.

"Of course," Kakashi said, now looking directly at the other man. Yondaime sighed.

"Kakashi, you and 12 other Iwa-nin are being sent to the border of the fire country. The war has started."

"Hai. Our objective?"

"You're the reinforcements." Kakashi winced; things must be looking grim…

"Hai…"

With that, Kakashi left to the front gates.

At the intricate stone doors 10 other ninja were waiting for him. Three of the others were wearing similar white and blue ANBU masks. _'Hawk, Cat, and Mouse'_ Kakashi noted. About two minutes after he arrived, a Jounin called Oraki poof-ed into the area. Hawk stood;

"Fellows, we are here and we know our purpose, yes?" affirmative nods. "Good, remember, you must be silent, wait for the signals from me, and keep your damn mouth shut if you're captured."

With that, the Hawk took flight, running into the forest. The rest of the Nin followed behind, nimbly jumping from tree to tree. The trek would take about a day and a half, if they stopped to sleep. They ran in complete silence, but the looks some of them shared spoke volumes.

They were going to war.

And they'd be damn lucky to live.

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"We're approaching the front lines" Hawk hissed. "Fan out and attack on three!" They followed his instructions. Poised and ready to jump into the fray; all they needed was the command.

"One… Two… Three!"

Twelve fresh shinobi ran into the battle. It was still 2 Konoha Nin to one Iwa Nin, but they were less tired. Kakashi had already killed two ninja, chuunin, and disabled a Jounin. He was then confronted by two Jounin; he didn't bother to register their appearance before he began to fight them. Start with taijutsu, move to weaponry, then to ninjutsu. If all else failed he did have a secret weapon…

But for now ninjutsu would do. _'Shun shin no jutsu!'_ he flashed behind one of his attackers and beheaded him cleanly. The other one stared at him for a split second too long.

Another head thudded to the ground.

With no assailants near him, Kakashi chanced a look around. Only two other Iwa-nin were still alive. Konoha had a large number of ANBU present. They were just too much.

Kakashi relocated himself to the main fight; the odds were a staggering 5-1. No, now it was him and Hawk on 14 Konoha Nin. He heard a dying scream behind him…

Now it was just Kakashi on 12 Konoha Nin.

Oohh Crap…

Kakashi cried out when a katana sliced his side. He dodged a flurry of projectiles, jumping away from the attackers. He flashed back in and beheaded two more with one swing. There was an inhuman growl of rage from behind him. What looked like an Inuzuka ripped towards him, missing his neck by a fraction, knocking his ANBU mask off instead.

They attacked him one at a time. Each one presenting a different technique to counter. Kakashi sustained a few more injuries, some rather serious. Someone came up and feinted stabbing him. Kakashi dodged, but was slammed in the chest with a chakra loaded palm. _'C-crap… Byakugan'_

He fell backwards. He only had enough energy for one more attack. He lay prone for a few seconds, his breathing ragged. The other ninja surrounded him. There were seven of them left. They seemed to be decided whether or not to kill him. He sat up sharply, ignoring the agony it caused him. He ripped up his Hitae ate.

The group looked at him and prepared to attack, he opened the eye to reveal what looked like a sharingan eye, save for the fact that it was blue. He focused chakra to his eye, and then released it. _'Aoime no sendo'_

The resulting flash immobilized the other shinobi. The three who were nearest to him when it happened were unable to breathe. They expired. Kakashi killed two more before collapsing, hacking up blood. His consciousness wavered. The last thing he saw before the blackness was three faces looking at him in a very perplexed way.

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"What the fuck was that?" Asuma asked, stretching paralysis from his limbs. "Should we kill him?"

"No," Hiashi said. "He's the last one alive, and he looks like he has a lot of information."

"But he killed Hachi! Scum…" Inuzuka Hana yelled.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Hana, but he needs to be interrogated, alive."

"Jeez, Tsunade is going to have our heads… Twelve Iwa nin wiped out almost all of us…" Asuma rubbed the back of his neck. He bent down and picked up the White haired boy. "He's just a kid…he's my team's age and he already has ANBU status."

"We may be obliged to question him, but I will show him no mercy… I hope Ibiki gets him good." Hana sneered. "Let's go tell Tsunade… I don't want that shrimp near me any longer…"

So they began the four hour run to Konoha, mildly wondering whether or not the kid would actually make it for that long.

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As the sun began to set the three survivors entered the Hokage's tower. None of them actually knew what to do with the boy, so they went straight to the Godaime. Shizune told them to go in, not even noting the boy in Asuma's arms. Hana closed the door behind them.

"Godaime Hokage-Sama" They said in unison, Hana and Hiashi bowing.

"Oh skip the formal crap. What the hell happened?" Tsunade snapped. She looked expectantly at Hiashi. He said;

"We fought on even ground for the first two days; we ambushed them on the second night and cut their numbers to one score. We were near victory, 3 of them on thirty of us when twelve reinforcements arrived. They were considerably more skilled and rested than us, but we fared well. Then, it was a twelve on one fight. Some people let their guards down, and were dispatched by the fighter, we injured him badly, but he used some sort of bloodline limit to kill off the other five of us. He wasn't dead so we decided to bring him for questioning."

"Where is he?" Tsunade asked

"Here," Asuma gestured with his beard to the bloody mass in his arms.

"So this, _kid,_ killed 9 Konoha Jounin?" her eyebrow was twitching menacingly. The three Jounin in front of her took a step back. "Fine," she said, "Take him to Ibiki."

"Hai Hokage-Sama," they all said. They exited the office together then went separate ways. Asuma went down to the interrogation department with the boy. He was stuck waiting for Ibiki to come back from his lunch break.

Asuma decided to actually look at the little murderer in his arms.

He looked peaceful… Like any leaf Genin, save for the Iwagakure Hitae ate. He was covered in dried blood. He was wearing a black ANBU uniform and sandals. His hair was blonde, or red… there was too much dried blood to tell, really.

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Ibiki had seen a lot of people come and go through his 'interrogation' in the past weeks; most of them didn't even wake up after. Here he had a kid with massive injuries who was shaking, in obvious pain, yet still glaring at him, and hadn't said a word.

"What's your name, brat"

Silence.

"Talk or I'll make you"

Still silence.

"Why won't you talk?"

"Orders"

"Will you say anything else?"

Silence. Ibiki put pressure on his broken ribs, he earned a grimace. Ibiki's foot remained firmly in place.

"What is your name?!" Ibiki pushed even harder with his foot. The boy started coughing violently. Flecks of blood dotted the floor. The boy rasped, "S-Since you don't know m-me, I g-guess I can s-say… Kakashi, H-Hatake Kakashi" the boy passed out again.

Ibiki was dumbfounded.

He knew Sakumo.

He knew what had happened to his boy after he had committed suicide…

This kid should be dead.

A missing Nin twice-over.

Tsunade must be informed.

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To be Continued

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**A/N:** so, is it good? Is it bad? Want more? (I'd like to clarify, Kakashi is the same age as the rookie nine, and went missing a week after his father killed himself. Now he's back, YAY)

**IMPORTANT: **I want to hold a mini-vote. Kaka x ?, the choices are

Ino Hinata or my OC Ariake (who he thinks is dead)


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Of Sticks and Stones, and Broken Bones

**Author**: Senney

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto; the characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The stuff you don't recognize is probably mine.

**Note**: Will someone please explain to me what a mary sue is?

Summary: Hatake Kakashi ran from Konoha at the tender age of six. He had no family and no friends to tie him to the village. He came to Iwa, and was accepted as a ninja... At 12 his life changed, Iwa put Konoha to war, and he was brought back to where he was born…

AU fic, alt. Timeline

Chapter Two

Now what?

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Ibiki sweatdropped.

How had this woman gotten power over his country?

He wasn't sire that he wanted to know the answer.

Ibiki walked towards Tsunade, who was passed out in her paperwork with a bottle of sake still in her hand. He poked her. She spluttered, looking up at the man who had disturbed her dreams. She had finally won the lottery in that one…

"Ibiki, why are you here?" Tsunade shifted in her seat.

"It's about the prisoner." He said

"What?"

"Well, I know his name, and it could change how we deal with him." Ibiki rubbed the back of his neck. Tsunade looked at him.

"How drastically will it change our dealings?"

"The impact is huge. I don't think he realized where he was before he told me." Ibiki was getting at something. Tsunade was puzzled.

"It's not like he's a Konoha missing-nin. We haven't had one leave us for over six years!" Ibiki looked at her, "Wait… what's his name?"

"Hatake"

"No way…" Ibiki just nodded at her. Tsunade looked at her hands. "Well, this does change everything."

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When Kakashi woke up next, he was alone in a cell. His entire body ached. Especially his chest, it was difficult to breathe. His hands were shackled to the wall above him so that he couldn't escape. Things were looking grim.

'_Why did I say my name dammit? I'm in Konoha! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! They knew my father! Crap…'_ now they were **definitely** going to question him. If they didn't kill him, he'd be silent. No matter what, they wouldn't get any information out of him.

The door to the cell opened, Kakashi turned his head away from the light. Two people walked in. It was the interrogator and an old blonde hag. The blonde moved forward and started studying him. Kakashi didn't like to be studied. When she had poked and prodde him to her satisfaction, she backed away.

"No doubt about it," she said. "He's definitely Sakumo's son."

"Well, what do we do with him?" the man said

"I'm going to ask some questions, then we either kill him or keep him."

"Sounds good to me"

"Well, you wouldn't have any choice in the matter if you tried." She redirected her attention to Kakashi. "Is your name Hatake Kakashi?"

No response.

"I'll take that as a yes." She walked closer. "Are you ANBU?"

No response.

"That'll be another yes. I already knew you were." She put her face right in front of his. "Do you know where you are?"

"Enemy territory."

"Good, you can speak!" The woman clapped her hands together and backed away a bit "Now, we have no intention of letting you die or letting you go. So don't get your hopes up for an easy way out."

"I wouldn't want it any other way, hag." He coughed.

"That's Tsunade-Sama to you!"

"You're the Hokage?" Kakashi choked a laugh.

"Stupid little brat… doesn't respect his elders…" Tsunade grumbled. "Fine, whatever… Do you remember Konoha?"

Kakashi stared flatly. "Not ringing any bells"

"Do you remember your father?"

"Yes."

"His name and status"

"Yes"

"Well tell me" Ibiki pulled out a notebook to record any information that the Hokage acquired.

Silence.

"Will you ditch allegiance with the Tsuchikage if we strike a deal?"

"No"

"We'll drop your missing Nin status and reinstate you as a Konoha shinobi."

"Ooh, tough decision… not"

"If you refuse, we'll torture then kill you."

"Have fun with that"

"Kid, please, we want to help you, but you have to help us first. Your country waged an unfair war on us. What did we do? Why is the Tsuchikage breaking the treaty?" The kid was silent, Tsunade growled at him. "Why do you stay silent? It will do you no good!"

"Maybe not, but it will do Iwa good!" He bit his lip._ 'Note to self; shouting hurts…'_

Tsunade rubbed her temples. This was going nowhere fast… She glared at Kakashi. He spoke out of the silence. "Uh, Is Jiraiya still alive?"

"Maybe" Tsunade knew an opportunity for negotiation when she saw it. "Ibiki, get what you can outta him, be extreme, but don't kill him. Find out the intent of Iwagakure, and the extent of his injuries. Knock him out if you must."

"Hai, Hokage-Sama" Ibiki bowed and turned his attention to the kid. Tsunade closed the door behind herself. "This is going to be fun,"

Kakashi was just slightly nervous.

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Tsunade was walking through her city. She had checked training grounds 1, 3, 6, 12, 4, and 2, but she still hadn't found Jiraiya and his Genin team. _'Goddamn it stupid old super perv, where in hell are you?'_

She rounded on a corner, she could see the Ichiraku Ramen stand in the distance. There was a white blob, a blue blob, a pink and red blob, and a nice smear of orange. _'got him,' _The Hokage thought. "Oi, Super Pervert!"

"What?" Jiraiya turned around to see Tsunade laughing at him.

"I can't believe you responded to that!" She took a seat next to the toad Sannin. "But on a more serious note, we have a prisoner."

"From the latest fight? How did we do?"

"We won, but at a higher cost than was necessary. I want you to come and confirm the identity for me." Tsunade was staring at him now. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I can't leave my Genin, you said so yourself. If I'm going to see the prisoner my students will too." Jiraiya looked at the Hokage. For once he was being serious. There were precious few Iwa-Nin that he knew…

"Bring them." At this, Naruto popped out of his ramen-induced nirvana.

"Where are we going pervert-sensei? Where? Where? Where?" He was bouncing around, ever the hyperactive little ninja. Sakura Smacked him upside the head.

"NARUTO, don't bother sensei and Hokage-sama!"

"Thank-you Sakura," Tsunade said, "And you guys are going somewhere, you're all going to come with Jiraiya and me to see Ibiki!"

"Ummm, isn't Ibiki the torture and interrogation department head?"

"Yes Sasuke, your point?"

"Why do we have to see him?"

Tsunade sighed. "Well…"

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" Naruto demanded.

"You'll find out when you get there."

"AWWWW BAA-CHAN!" Naruto whined, Tsunade punched him.

"Baka!"

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Kakashi's breath was coming in short pained gasps. That Ibiki guy was good at his job, sadist that he was. Kakashi had been un-shackled. Ibiki had forced him to drink some foul liquid that made it impossible for him to mould or concentrate chakra in any way. Then the man had proceeded to ask him question after question, kicking him if he didn't or couldn't answer.

'_This guy is good...'_

Kakashi couldn't even think straight… Torture hurt dammit! Whoever invented it must not have realized how pain clouds the human mind.

"What is the name of the Tsuchikage?"

Nothing except harsh breaths, damn this kid was enduring. Ibiki watched the kid pull himself into a seated position. Would he talk?

"I… c-can't sa-" he doubled over and coughed up blood. He grimaced at Ibiki. "I'll n-never talk."

"Brat! Don't you know when you should give up?" Ibiki Kicked him in the side, Kakashi cried out, he was shaking. Something had shifted inside of him, and the pain was inbeareable. He couldn't breathe, he gasped, there was another flash of pain, and he slumped forward.

"Great, just great, the kid passes out before he gives me any information!" He rubbed his mangled scalp, "Reminds me of me…" The door to the cell burst open. Tsunade walked in and whispered to Ibiki;

"What did you get?"

"Nothing, Hokage-Sama. The brat didn't talk, just endured till the point where he passed out."

"Sakumo woulda been proud."

"yeah, if he hadn't left…"

"well, we don't know why he left…" Tsunade paused, "But back to the matter. If Jiraiya identifies him then maybe he can stay under medical supervision. He really doesn't look too good."

"you're telling me, he was hacking up blood."

"Yech, I hope Jiraiya can give us a reason to help him. He'd be an invaluable resourse in the war." Tsunade said. "Lets go, Jiraiya should be alone." We'll watch from the one-way window."

They left the room and met up with Jiraiya and team seven. Jiraiya looked nervous, Naruto way hyper, Sakura seemed irked by Naruto's presence, and Sasuke was Sasuke. Tsunade told Jiraiya to go to the cell. He left. The other five went to the room next to the cell with the one-way window. They could see in, but Jiraiya couldn't see them.

Ibiki watched how they reacted. He was a master of human feelings, he could tell what they were feeling based on their faces. Naruto was confused, as he so often is. Probably because he had never seen Jiraiya behave in such a solemn way. Sakura looked sickened, definitely because of the bloodied boy beyond the glass. Tsunade was solemn. She knew what her friend was feeling, and she didn't like it. Sasuke, however, was unreadable, just like Kakashi had been.

And Jiraiya was an open book.

His face was reserved, almost resigned. He looked sadly at the boy in front of him. His eyes scanned the limp body, reading each cut and tear in the fabric of his clothes, seeing the injuries. The Sannin grimaced. "Kakashi, what happened…"

Behind the glass Tsunade spoke; "Positive I.D., I need to know what Jiraiya does about Kakashi. Ibiki, bring him out and shackle the Iwa-nin again."

"Hai."

Team seven followed Tsunade blindly. They had the distinct feeling that they were merely luggage…

They met up with Jiraiya and Ibiki outside on a bench. Jiraiya was staring at the sky, lost in reflection. Tsunade came up and sat beside him. "Ibiki, take the kids and teach them how to read people."

"Hai," wow, Ibiki really felt like a lackey today. With the kids out of the way Tsunade was free to ask Jiraiya anything.

"Why did he leave?"

"He didn't leave; he was forced out by the villagers."

"What?" she was really shocked… "Well, if he realigns with us, we could drop all charges!"

"Yeah, but there's no way in hell that he's going to come back, he was bodily removed from out city. Things don't get much more cold-blooded than that… But what happened to him? I could barely see his face through the blood! Tsuni, you've got to help him… Now that he's back, I don't think that I could stand to see him go again… he was the son of my best friend…" Jiraiya put his face in his hands.

"Jiraiya, I can heal him if you promise to convince him to join the leaf."

The pervert smiled, "You know I wouldn't want it any other way!"

"Then let's get him to your apartement!"

"Sure, but he can't stay there, Naruto lives with me, remember?"

Tsunade blinked, "Right, We'll find some ninja family to look after him sooner or later…" She stood up and Jiraiya followed suit, "but for now, he's with you."

"Then lets get him! He could be dead!

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To be Continued

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A/N—Well, no action yet, And will someone please tell me what a mary sue is? Oh well, I guess I'll find out someday. And since the pairing is still not decided (and wont be for at least one more chapter) the vote is still on! Here are some pros and cons to consider…

Hinata is more like Kakashi in that she has something to prove, she would understand him more quickly. Unfortunately she is very shy and really is in love Naruto.

Ino, on the other hand, isn't like Kakashi at all. She's loud and happy, and wants everyone else to be happy with her, she'd help Kakashi deal with problems. Unfortunately she has a superficial love of Sasuke.

Ariake – would be a complete surprise for yah!

L+(I+6)+(K+11)+E Love


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